Feather Wing: A Crochet Tale

Ooops, has it really been that long since I last posted??? Oh life, you get in the way sometimes! I've been busy busy busy these last few months, I'm back to work almost full time and my wonderful hubby is back in school! We are very much looking forward to all the great changes coming our way.
With everything going on I still make time daily for crochet or knitting. That's right, knitting!! I have taught myself how to knit and have fallen in the deepest love with my trusty circulars <3
My daughters are growing much too fast for my liking, and with growing comes new hats of course. But I must confess, I've done so many hat orders recently I'm really getting sick of them! My abilities stretch far beyond head wear and so I'm taking a much needed break from orders so I can just make what I want for awhile. I have a few hats I've made for the girls that I will post, and then no more hats until next year!!
My oldest daughter is probably the biggest Monster High fan out there, so when I came across a free Skullette appliqué pattern on Ravelry I was over the moon. I surprised her one day after school with a funky Monster High inspired hat and she loved it, which makes me one happy Mama!
I also seem to spend too much of my spare time on Pinterest looking for yarny inspiration and such, so I thought it would be cool to pin something of my own. I hadn't done this before but I saw so many projects from other people, so why not?? So I pinned this hat and I'm almost at 100 pins! I was so excited that I decided to pin some other projects from my blog only to discover that other people already had! So I'm out there and I didn't even know it! Very flattering, so thanks to whoever that was, random strangers or loyal blog followers ;)

The appliqué is a free pattern from Ravelry, found here Monster High inspired Skully. I used Red Heart Comfort from my stash. The bow and the rest of the hat were made with Caron Simply Soft. For the hat I used Neon Pink and Black held together throughout using a J hook with a basic HDC hat pattern.

So there were a few new babies born in our extended family this year and I couldn't wait to create something magical for a tiny new person. I didn't want to make the usual booties and blankie, so over done. Nothing at all wrong with that, I will always enjoy making anything baby related, but I wanted something really special. Around the same time on Ravelry there was a beautiful owl mobile being featured. When I found out this new baby was going to have an owl themed nursery I knew it was the perfect project!
This particular pattern was available for sale but this year has been especially difficult financially and buying a pattern is completely out of the question. So this is where my crochet experience (and the ability to scour the darkest corners of the internet) came in handy. I was able to make this completely with found free patterns online.
I worked on it for about a week and my wonderful father made me the wooden top for the mobile. I was so pleased with how it turned out. I knew that the recipient is a beginner crocheter, so I knew that she would appreciate all the time and thought of this gift. I wasn't prepared however to have her open it in front of 40+ people. I was sooooooo nervous. Its so ridiculous I know, of course she was going to open it in front of everyone lol. I guess I have it in my head that most folks look down on the handmade items. I feel that most folks enjoy seeing everything being purchased off of their registry.
I hid the mobile in the bottom of a large gift bag and covered it with a cute outfit and some pretty socks that my daughters and I had purchased earlier, so when she uncovered the mobile I saw her true and pure reaction, all the while I thought I was going to have a heart attack. To my great joy everyone in the room loved it. She later came up to me and said that she was so in love with it. She had realized as the shower began that she had forgotten to put a mobile on the registry and was hoping that someone would get one for the nursery. My nerves were calmed and my heart was happy.

I crocheted two small circles and then joined them together, they kind of looked like cartoon eyes, then added matte black buttons. I embroidered the noses and feathered tummies. Not shown, there are cute little colored buttons sewn to the tops of the wings.

I used this pattern for the Little Flowers and Leaves . I used some fine thread and some well placed knots to string them all together. This is by far one of my most favorite projects completed.

Hello Hookers, I hope things have been well! What a busy summer it was for my family, we didn't get to go on any fancy vacations, but did a lot of day trips and fun outings. A few years ago I posted a thread about a Round Ripple afghan that I had started for my oldest daughter. I always have such great intentions when beginning an afghan and then after getting in about 20 rows I remember how much I hate dedicating my time to something so colossal. But it was for my daughter after all, so I kept on trudging however slow it may be. Well my local county fair is at the beginning of August and after having such a stressful year I decided to have some fun and enter a project. I have never entered before so I was pretty excited. Now being that I decided to enter just two weeks before the Fair I had to get my butt in gear. I picked a small quick project that I knew would only take a day to make. I chose the Angel Wings Pinafore. When I was quickly finished and satisfied I started eyeing up the afghan sitting in my project bag. I swear it was crying out to me, "Please finish me already!!". So then I started thinking, how awesome would it be to enter two projects in the fair and actually finish this afghan?! And then I never crocheted so fast in my life lol. But I got that sucker done!! I was soooo pleased to finally bring this project to life. The Round Ripple Afghan was finally finished!! It only took about 2 years *hangs head in shame*.
Well for my first time ever entering, I was happy to receive second place blue ribbons for each project. Now, I don't want to seem ungrateful but I know that I should've won first place. I entered the pinafore in the category, Dress For Under 2 Years. The dress that won first place was honestly made crudely from an old pillowcase that had shoddy embroidery and random buttons haphazardly placed all over. The afghan lost to another ripple afghan, the only differences were the colours and that mine happened to be round. Now nepotism runs rampant in this area, so again for the first time ever entering, winning second place is not bad at all. It just makes me want that big pretty red first place rosette even more!!!

This picture best shows the colours in the afghan, all picked by my daughter (her favourite colours)

Don't let this picture fool you! The finished afghan measures over 6 ft from point to point. My daughter thinks it is so cool that her afghan is award winning :)

Here is the Pinafore. I stayed with a neutral palette, not shown so great in this picture. It is tan and cream. My daughter claimed this also and put it on her giant teddy bear Honey.
My hubby and kids thought it was so cool to see my creations on display, and of course it felt great to put them out there for all to see. I loved entering the fair and can't wait until next year to do it again!!
Thanks for letting me share,
Happy Hooking!!

In the depths of Winter I was tasked with creating cute crochet ear warmers/headbands for a former coworker. In total she asked for 6 through the holidays to give as gifts. She found exactly what she was looking for on Pinterest and sent me the links. I just love Pinterest, so much worldy inspiration right at your fingertip! Ear warmers quickly became a favorite project of mine. They work up so quickly, talk about instant gratification! You could easily finish one in just a few hours if you have the time to spare. Perfect traveling project as well.
The first ear warmer was my favorite out of the two. It was a lot quicker and I think it was cuter too.

This pattern is free from Red Heart, here is the link: Crochet Flower Headband. The pattern called for Red Heart Shimmer in Royal, I was pleased to have some waiting for me in my stash!! The green I used is Red Heart Comfort. This headband has two buttons on the back.

The second ear warmer is really pretty. It was requested in dark grey, I used Red Heart Soft.

I really like the end result of this ear warmer, but I didn't like making it lol. It was just too boring for me to really get in to it and get it done quickly! Although I will probably make it again since so many people ended up liking it. This headband has two buttons on the back as well. The pattern is free here: Bow Headband. This blog is really enjoyable and she has some other free patterns too, check it out!

So if you're bored or need a portable project, check these easy patterns out.

One of the best things about having daughters, for me, is that I get to relive and enjoy all the wonders of fairies, mermaids, princesses, faraway castles and all things magical. These were some of my most favorite things as a child. Being able to share that with my daughters is most enjoyable! We love snuggling on the couch and watching the latest Tinkerbell movie or some magical movie from my own childhood. Last year in late spring while browsing Etsy and Ravelry, I happened upon the most beautiful Unicorn hat. I knew that I just HAD to recreate this for my oldest daughter. Being too late for winter I promised that I would make it for her to wear this winter. Quickly I made my way to Michael's to purchase the yarn I would need.
Oh Michael's, I could just spend the whole day there. Don't even get me started on my first trip to Hobby Lobby, my family is lucky that I ever found the exit! (cannot wait to go back!)
Now, this wonderful hat was a purchased pattern. Luckily for me I have been crocheting for about 11 years now and knew that I could just figure it out and so I did. I did not take notes with this hat because I don't know about copy right laws and I really don't need the trouble of some wonderful designer coming down on me! I will post a link for the pattern found on Etsy for those of you who would like to give it a go. If you have some experience with crochet you might just wing it yourself by looking at the pictures like I did.

As you can see there was a lot of work going into this one! My daughter never takes this hat off. She wears it to school and then keeps wearing it, me and hubby have to take it from her at bedtime.
I used Red Heart Super Saver for the basic ear flap hat, ears and braids. I used Vanna's Glamor in Silver for the magical horn and Fun Fur for the crazy mane. The Fun Fur I purchased was a medley of pink and light and dark purple. I decided to just use the pink as that is my daughter's favorite color. We get so many compliments on this hat and I have told so many people that I will not recreate this beauty! Well if I ever did it would be for a good amount of cash! Fun Fur is a nightmare!! I just used surface chain stitches to attach the mane, its on there pretty good!
You can find the pattern for purchase here Glimmer Unicorn. I applaud the designer for this wonderful hat and hope that you will all give it a try. The end result and the happy face on my daughter made all of the effort completely worth it.
Thanks for looking and Happy Hooking!

About Me

I taught myself to crochet when I was 18, and love it! It has consumed my free time, and cuts into my housework. I am married and have two gorgeous daughters. I hope they will want to learn how to crochet when they are older.